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Research Facilities

The OSU-NRL features The Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR), a pool‑type reactor with multiple beam ports and dry tubes as irradiation facilities, that is utilized for a variety of instructional, research, and service activities. It is licensed to operate at thermal powers up to a maximum of 500 kilowatts, and at this maximum steady‑state power, the maximum thermal neutron flux in the central irradiation facility is approximately 1.4x1013 n/cm2/s.

The OSU-NRL houses a 60Co irradiator with a dose rate and profile seen here. Samples and experiments are irradiated in a 6"-diameter dry tube. Due to the design of the loading elevator, the usable diameter for an experimental setup in the 6"-diameter tube is ~ 4". The usable height is limited by the falloff in the flux profile seen in the page linked above.

The NRL also houses a bench-top cesium irradiator. The space for sample irradiations is ~ 7.75" in length by 3.75" in diameter, and the dose rate in the sample irradiation can be seen here.

A spot irradiator is also located at the NRL. It makes use of a source collimator to enable in-situ radiation-damage testing of an electronic device while minimizing the dose received by other devices nearby on the test board.

In addition to the reactor and gamma irradiators, the NRL also has alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron sources available for use in student labs and research; and using the reactor, other types of beta/gamma sources can be created (such as the Sc-46 sources used for the spot irradiator). A range of alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron sensitive detectors are also available for use in in student labs and research.